After winning 15 of the 19 races it has taken part in, the Ferrari F2002 enjoyed a victorious sendoff at the San Marino Grand Prix, in what was a fitting end to the all-conquering machine. Atlas F1's Karl Ludvigsen pays tribute to what many consider the greatest F1 car of all times

Recently F1 Racing magazine recruited a 24-man panel to vote on the greatest Formula One cars of all time. (Not the greatest Grand Prix cars, which would go back to 1906.) Of course many great cars figured near the top of their ranking. Contending for top honors were such outstanding machines as the Mercedes-Benz W196, Maserati 250F, Lotuses 25, 49, 72 and 79, Williams FW07 and McLaren MP4/2. Top of the tree, however, shrugging off all competition by a surprisingly large margin, was the car that won last weekend at Imola, the Ferrari F2002.

I can't fault the short memories of the younger panel members for their decision to give the golden crown to a car that hadn't even finished its racing career when the survey was conducted. The F2002 is clearly a remarkable car by any standards. Jean Todt acknowledged as much in his remarks in Michael Schumacher's place after the San Marino Grand Prix: "I can say that it was good to end the career - at least that is our current plan - of the F2002 with a victory and a third place. It is a car which has exceeded all expectations."

The F2002 first appeared as a single car for Michael Schumacher at Interlagos early in the 2002 season. Ferrari took on the huge burden of servicing two types of car in Brazil to launch its new F2002 there, and justified that effort by winning the race. Barrichello had one too for the next race at San Marino, where Ferrari finished one-two. Nine times in 2002 the Ferraris had one-two finishes. This was the clearest possible indication of the strength of the car. Had Schumacher not been driving, Barrichello would easily have been World Champion that year. Indeed, he had four race wins to his credit and deserved at least that many, with or without Ferrari's controversial team orders.

The record of the F2002 is indeed stunning. It compiled a record-high total of 221 Championship points that season, a record that will stand forever under the old points system. Over its lifetime, to this date, it scored 15 wins in 19 race appearances. It held pole 11 times and set the fastest race lap 15 times. Three of those fastest laps came in the first four races of this season, showing that Ferrari was not in the 2003 "slump" that many claimed and indeed hoped for. On six occasions the F2002 held the royal flush: winning first and second places plus pole and fastest lap.

Could an argument be made that the great success of the F2002 was owed only to weakness on the part of its major rivals? BMW Williams seemed to have the speed, judging by its pole positions. McLaren-Mercedes were no slouches, as the early-2003 form of the same basic car has shown. Granted, neither was making best use of its Michelins, while Ferrari and Bridgestone were superbly in synch. We can say that the F2002 defeated two Championship teams that were operating pretty close to the top of their games.

Are there any lessons to be drawn from this car's success? We're already aware of the benefits of having a complete car-building team under one roof. Integrating the F2002's design was much easier under these circumstances. But Ferrari has always had this advantage, and has not often used it as effectively as it has during the last several seasons. Toyota now has the same advantage; let's see what they can do with it.

More influential has been the consistency of the team behind the F2002. Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne and Paolo Martinelli have now been working together at Maranello since 1997. They know their racing cars inside and out. They know their strengths, but, more importantly, they know their weaknesses. Year on year they work together to eliminate those weaknesses and add new strengths. That consistency of research, testing and development is the great advantage that Ferrari has given to its gestione sportiva and, in turn, to the F2002.

Not expected to race at Imola, the F2002 stepped into the breach when the F2003-GA showed certain weaknesses in testing. We expect the new car to represent Maranello in Spain. Hence it's timely to bid farewell to a magnificent Ferrari - indeed the Ferrari that some consider the greatest Formula One car of all time.

About the author:
Long time columnist at Atlas F1, Karl Ludvigsen is an award-winning author and historian who managed racing programs for Fiat in America in the late 1970s and Ford of Europe in the early 1980s. He is the author of seven books about racing drivers and numerous books about classic racing cars and engines, all of which draw extensively on the many images in his Ludvigsen Library in Suffolk, England. This autumn will see publication of Karl's long-awaited work, the update of his epic Porsche - Excellence was Expected. It reveals for the first time details of the all-conquering McLaren-TAGs and the disastrous Footwork-Porsches. Information on the book and a pre-publication discount are available at the Robert Bentley website